Body Building Depot looking to expand
Medicine Hat’s body building superstore is getting ready to expand its reach across Canada and south of the border.
The Body Build Depot, which opened its doors roughly four years ago on Strachan Road, will now be accepting licensing applications from Canadians and Americans to hopefully open nine stores in the next 18 months, says founder and CEO Todd Schneider.
“We started up a few years ago and we knew we wanted to either franchise or license out,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to see where this goes over the next 12 to 18 months, and we’re really excited to see where this goes down the road.”
Schneider says he has gotten interest on licensing a store from as close as Lethbridge and as far as California.
“As a small Canadian company that’s only four years old, seeing interest from somewhere like California is really just amazing,” he said. “We’re going to keep accepting applications and see where we think we can end up.”
The Body Building Depot has quickly become many fitness enthusiasts’ go-to store for equipment in Medicine Hat — and this was exactly the goal says Schneider.
“We wanted to create a place where we really could offer everything,” he said. “When we opened our doors we made an effort to offer the best price and the widest selection to the people of Medicine Hat. We wanted to be that one-stopshop and I feel like we really do offer that.”
Schneider says the store is something that not only unique to Medicine Hat, but to Canada and the U.S. as well.
“There is no other fitness store in North America that does what we do here,” he said. “On top of all of our equipment and machines, we have a huge selection of proteins, health foods, protein bars — you name it and it is likely we’ve got it.”
With the layout of the store being very open, with products all over the floor, and stacked to the ceiling, Schneider says the store offers people to see and feel the workout gear.
“No matter how big online shopping gets, seeing and feeling the items you’re about to buy can really help the consumer,” he said. “That ‘wow-factor,’ on top of being able to walk out of here with your item and not having to wait up to six weeks for shipping really makes people want to shop here.”
Another big part of the store’s success is the team Schneider has been able to build to help serve customers when he is not around.
“The staff I’ve got really are dialed in when they are in the store,” he said. “We don’t want to just offer a widerange of products, but we also want our staff to know what they’re talking about, so they can help customers out when they’re looking at what to buy.”
For more information on the store, go to www.bodybuildingdepot.com